The New River Bridge and Falling Water House

Sat 5/19/12 I am awakened just before dawn by a musical chorus of birds in trees above BEYOND. I listened for a few minutes and then dozed off again until the light was up. I peeked over the edge of my bunk and my father was still asleep. Very unusual for me to awaken first. I could just see the top of his hunter orange stock cap peeking out from the top of the blanket. When I turned over and rocked the van he woke up. It was chilly so I had him turn on the furnace. I hadn’t used it lately and was happy to feel the warm air surge out of the vent. Soon we were dressed and warm and back from the bathroom. I made tea and my father took his weekly special medication were he can’t eat or drink and thing but water for 30 minutes. He also has to stay up right so we sat and listened to The People’s Pharmacy on the radio. It was an interesting program. Soon we were on the road again. Back on I-77 headed north. We took the short cut north on 19 to I-79 with be at the helm. We had to stop for gas and the station also had good ice cream so I bought us a couple of Magnum bars. The ones with the vanilla ice cream, gooey caramel and a chocolate coating…yum! At 9:45 am we were back on the road with ice cream in hand! We were flying along and then we dropped down on to an amazing bridge over a deep gorge and the New River. There was a visitor’s center and park so we pulled over and spend a while there. They had a nice exhibit and the history of the area. Lots of logging and coal mining and now white water rafting and kayaking. They also talked about the amazing bridge we just drove over. It spans 3030 ft across the gorge and the roadway is supported by a single ach that is 1700 feet across and almost 900 ft above the river. It’s truly spectacular. We walked down the boardwalk to get a better view and some pictures. As we walked back up the stairs my father needed a rest so we sat on a bench and I wrote a post card. When we got back in the car he ate some energy gu and we got underway. He fell right to sleep for an hour. He woke up hungry so we stopped at the nearest place. Pizza Hut. We had salads and Hawaiian Pizza. We took half the pizza with us and drove on into our campsite near Morgantown, WV. We have been in two really clean places so far and this doesn’t measure up. We ended up in an overflow site which was fine but right near the road and a long way from the restroom, except for a pretty nasty outhouse. My father was not up for a hike so we researched Fallingwater, which is Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous house. We are very close and decided to drive over in the morning. I had a faint internet signal but was able to make a reservation for 11:30 am. We also researched the bike route from the C&O Canal trail to our hotel in Arlington. Seems like a fairly straightforward ride, and less than 2 miles. We will be staying at the Inn at Rosslyn. I made us a salad and reheated the beans and rice and pizza for dinner. There read and crashed. But it was fairly quiet and we slept well. Sunday 5/20/12 We woke up about 7:30 and I made tea while Pop did his medicine then we got on the road for Falling Water. We are very excited to be going to see the most famous of frank Lloyd Wright’s houses. Falling Water was built right over a 20 ft waterfall. We set our GPS and off we went. It took us over hill and dale through some really beautiful landscape. We stopped to photograph one beautiful old farmhouse and to buy blueberry yogurt for breakfast. We rolled through Ohiopyle PA which will be one of the stops on our bike trip. It looks like a very fun little town. It was also exciting to finally cross part of the trail! It looks very cool. Four miles further down the road we pulled into the driveway for Falling Water. Finally we are here. It’s about 10 am and our tour is 11:30 so we break out the food and have brunch and tune in a classical music station. Violins, cereal, blueberry yogurt, peanut butter and Nutella! Yumm! At 11 we walk up to the visitor’s center and check-in then stroll on down to the house. We walk down a mossy walkway surrounded by mountain laurel and around a corner and there it is! Falling Water. It is just as amazing in real life as in the famous photos. The house just hovers of the waterfall and leans into the hillside above the stream. Just lovely. We are allowed to take photos only outside the house so I walk around and take lots of shots. Then we join our group of 15 and our guide leads us in. It is wonderful that the owners left the house furnished when they gave it to the Penn Conservancy. It is wonderful to see all the art and the furnishings. There are paintings by Picasso and Diego Rivera amongst others and at least one Tiffany lamp in every room. The house is full of windows so your gaze is directed outside in every room. It really does push you to enjoy the surroundings. Frank Lloyd Wright also built in most of the furniture. All the couches and desks and fireplaces are all permanently place and there are places were the natural stones from the site are incorporated into the house. It truly is an amazing structure. I encourage everyone with a love of architecture, art and design to make a point of visiting. After out tour we poked our heads into the gift shop, then walked back to BEYOND. We loaded up and headed for Boston, PA (look for McKeesport, PA on the map) where we are starting our bicycle adventure. We drove over some very steep and twisty roads. Past old country churches and blooming flowers. Until we arrived at the Yough Shore Inn on the Youghagheny River. We unloaded and met our host. Lynn has decorated each room with a theme. Everything from Jungle to Las Vegas. We are in the oriental room. It’s a fun place. We quickly unload and get into our bike clothes. We get our bikes out and go for a warm up ride toward Pittsburgh. It should be about 25 miles to that end of the the trail. It’s a lovely afternoon and we quickly find the trail turn right and off we go. It’s a dirt and gravel trail and there are lots of other bicyclists and walkers going in both directions. The river is on out left and there are lots of blooming flowers. I can smell honeysuckle and wild roses. We pass a few small waterfalls on our left as we cruise along. We set a good pace and soon we rock mile markers are steadily flying by. We ride about 15 miles and I am wondering why the surround area seems less inhabited. We are supposed to be headed for Pittsburg. After an hour and about 11 miles my father decides to take a break. I ride on and soon I reach the town of South Boston and realize that my fears were correct. We have ridden in the wrong direction! Damn! The Bass- Akward Boys strike again! I ride about 2 miles back to were Pop is resting and we head back down the trail. We just have to laugh about it. Well at least we will know which way to go in the morning! On or ride back we see a female wild turkey walking along beside the trail. We get off our bikes and watch but she has absolutely no fear of us. I have never been this close to a wild turkey. She is quite beautiful! After a while we ride on back to Boston and our Inn. We shower off the dust and I make us pasta witch clam sauce. We eat dinner and watch the Pelican Brief on tv. Now this will be the last installment of my log until we finish the bike trip. I will not be hauling my computer with me. If I find a computer along the way I will post a few thoughts. I will be back in early June. Wish us luck!

Great Allegheny Bike Trip

Allegheny Bike Trip 5/17/12 My father and I are off on another adventure! We are driving from Home in Florida to Pittsburg, PA. From there we plan to bicycle to Washington D. C. on the Great Allegheny and C& O Canal Bike trails. So here we go....! We loaded up BEYOND and drove out of St. Pete at 10 am on Thursday morning. It was overcast and a nice temperature to be on the road. We had smooth sailing up to Crystal River where we stopped at the Park for a pee and to stretch our legs. Amazingly my father had never seen this Park! I was please to be able to share it with him. Then back in the saddle and we drove up 121 to 25 to 301 and stopped just short of Starke, FL for a quick lunch at Subway (my father loves Subway!) A quick tuna sub on whole wheat and my father takes over driving. I was sleepy from being up late the night before so I lay down on the floor in the back of BEYOND for a nice nap. I work up when we stopped for fuel just before getting on to I-95 and took over the helm. 10 minutes later we drove out of Florida and into a Georgia rainstorm. We were pounded for a few minutes and then it rained fairly steadily until we pulled off I-95 and headed to our campsite in Rincon, GA. We found our spot and relax for a bit. Since the rain was over and the sky clearing, we decided to drive into historic Savannah, GA. I love old Savannah! It is very beautiful with the square and huge live oak trees and a plethora of Historic homes and buildings. We found a parking space and got on our bicycles and rode down along the River and around some of the squares until my father announced it was time to eat. We found a Mediterranean restaurant and ordered gyro and sampler platters. While we were waiting for our food my father had me look up the phone number of friends, who used to live next door to us in Tampa and now live in Savannah. I found a number for them, but when I rang it was disconnected. Too bad! We enjoyed most of the items except the tabouli which had a metallic taste (hunh?) and the rice which was way mushy! The rest was tasty. Then we biked back to the van and walk for a while until my father was ready to go and we headed back to the campsite. I finally have a GPS unit in BEYOND after seeing how incredibly useful it was in Turkey where navigating by map is virtually impossible. It was not much use getting into Savannah but was right on getting us well –fed and sleepy troopers back to the campsite! We had the whole tent area by the lake to ourselves so it was nice and peaceful. The rain had cooled off the air so we up on our pile jackets and ate blueberries with yogurt and listened to a cool program called The Story which was talking to people and their jobs. There was a cool story about a woman who lost her job in the Salem OR planning office who was losing her job so she transferred to a job captaining a cable ferry across the Willamette River. And another story about a man who drives a truck for a steel company. They were very interesting tales. We tried to call Pippa as Pop had left some of his paperwork at home but she was out. So I walked off to the showers and tried to call Audrey but she was unavailable…..too bad I wanted to tell her about Savannah! After a hot shower I was whipped and headed back to the van and climbed into the top but and read for bit. Then I was asleep and my father cam from the showers and I woke up briefly as he got ready for bed then I curled up in my blankets and was out for the night. What a great start to our adventure! See you tomorrow! We were up by 7 am and soon eating a combination of wheat chex, muesli, and granola with yogurt and blueberries on top and hot tea. I checked my email while Pop did his medicines and got ready. Soon we were rolling north and listening to all the news people talking about the Facebook Initial Public Offering and death of Donna Summer. What a strange combination of subjects. I remember enjoying all of Donna Summer’s hits so it was fun to hear them again. I think the Facebook this thing has been blown way out of proportion. My father was at the helm as I hate driving through South Carolina on I-95. The road is only two lanes and it’s rough and there are always a disproportionate number of rude drivers blowing by. So I navigated us up to I-24 and then I-77. We stopped gas and it too awhile to the pump to work. While my father was pumping gas I bought and test drove a new tooth brush as I discovered I had forgotten to pack mine. Soon we were in Charlotte NC. And decided to stop in the rest stop a little ways north for a picnic lunch. We hit some stop and go traffic but soon enough were parked in the shade eating carrots, apples, sesame sticks, cracker, cheese, peanut butter, nutella and blueberries. It was fun to nosh and watch the people walk by on their way to and from the loo. So many different shaped and sizes!. Soon we had cleaned the dregs and were on our way. We rolled on up the road and about 3 pm we rolled into Wytheville, VA which is the town closest to our campsite for the night. We followed signs to the tourist office and chose a place for a hike. We headed out but soon realized our map was crap and spotted Skeeter Dogs which listed hot dogs and ice cream on their window. My father loves ice cream so we dove in. There was a couple at the counter eating hot dogs and a very old lady behind the counter. We spotted the ice cream freezer and made a bee line for it. We were hugely disappointed as it was stocked with cheap ice cream sandwiches. And the old lady couldn’t help us with directions either. Luckily her daughter came out of the back and was able to point us in the right direction. Soon we were on the right rocky road and pulling into Crystal Springs Park. (GPS couldn’t find it) It was lovely but damp as they had a hard rain last night. We put our bathing suits and a towel in my pack and carefully picked the driest route out to the trail. Soon we were climbing up a hill away from the stream. We had some easy switch backs and the trail wiggled around. We stopped and swung on some Tarzan vines (yes, we have pics!) then continued down the trail. Soon we could hear another stream we switchbacked down through the Rhododendron bushes and there was the spring. It was little an emerald in a dark ring. The sun was shining on the sparkling water as it fell over a small fall into the pool surrounded by a necklace of dark Rhododendron bushes. I stripped down and was soon in the water to my chin. It was a very chilly and my feet went numb. My father stayed on the beach and photo documented the latest chapter of my obsession with cold water! Soon I was out and shivering in the sun. Really glad I packed a towel! After warmimg up and getting dressed we were back on the Crystal Springs loop headed for the van. The trail became really wet and we found ourselves bushwacking up the hill in an effort to keep our shoes dry! We ended up with damp feet but finally made it back to BEYOND. What a nice side adventure! We drove to our campsite were I made black beans and yellow rice and salad for dinner. We are down in a valley here in Southwest Virginia and have no cellphone signal but I did get a sweet text from Audrey and a couple from my sister-in-law Martha with funny pictures of my niece W clowning around. We feast and then read until bed. I head off and take a very hot shower. It’s even chillier here than last night. Glad I packed a blanket and sleeping bag as my father only brought a sheet and he was almost chilly last night. I will give him the blanket and keep the windows zipped up it stays warmed down below were he sleeps! As I am climbing into my bunk I can hear the waterfall in the stream next to us and a bullfrog ker-whumping a ways upstream. What a nice campsite. It has been another fun day. Everybody get outside and have some fun! Until tomorrow! Peace. I AM TAKING PICTURES BUT I FORGOT TO PACK THE CABLE TO LOAD THEM ON TOT HE COMPUTER...SO PICTURES WILL BE POSTED LATER.